Forward Spots Are Limited After NAK Signing

If you haven’t heard by now, the Flyers have signed Nicolas Aube-Kubel to a 2 year contract worth $1,075,000 a season.

Aube-Kubel, once an RFA, becomes the 11th forward under contract on the NHL roster for the Flyers, seemingly leaving one forward roster spot available. With $7,835,273 left in CAP space it’s almost a foregone conclusion that bottom 6 players like Tyler Pitlick and Derek Grant will not return to Philadelphia. Leaving roster spots open for younger players like Morgan Frost, Connor Bunnaman, Tanner Laczynski, and Wade Allison to make the team.

The Flyers are pretty much set on the wings with players like Voracek, Konecny, Farabee, and Aube-Kubel occupying RW spots and Giroux, Lindblom, JVR, and Raffl/Laughton occupying LW positions. The question marks will be who will play the 2 bottom 6 center positions for the Flyers next season?

Let’s take a look at a couple candidates.

First let’s start with Morgan Frost. Everyone is excited to see what Frost can do at the NHL level and we even got a few glimpses of what’s to come during last season. But is Frost a viable option to start the season as the Flyers 3rd line center?

Let’s take a look at some of the positives from Frost’s first season. Frost was sub-par in the face-off dot as he went on to win 47.3% of his draws but I would expect him to only get better playing more in the NHL. He was also a +4 in terms of takeaways/giveaways which is always beneficial to a bottom lines success.

As far as advanced stats go, Frost’s Corsi percentage finished at 52.4 which according to how it’s measured, means his team was controlling the puck more often than not when he was on the ice. This could be because Frost had the second highest starting percentage in the offensive zone this year, starting 59% of his shifts in the o-zone compared to only 41% in the defensive zone.

I for one am on the Morgan Frost train. I’m excited to see what he can do with a legit spot in the lineup for the Flyers and it may even come by default as there are serious doubts about an AHL season happening this year. Add in the Flyers CAP number and still having to re-sign RFA’S Phil Myers, Robert Hagg, as well as a backup goalie which could likely be Brian Elliott. Morgan Frost at 3C makes entirely too much sense.

Next let’s take a look at a potential new face next season in Tanner Laczynski.

Laczynski starred at Ohio State University, cementing his name in the school’s record books for years to come while also scoring 143 points in 138 games played. A 6th round pick of the Flyers back in 2016, Laczynski was as consistent as it gets at OSU and ended up signing his ELC back in March after playing all 4 seasons in college.

At 23 years old, Tanner is ready size wise for the NHL as he stands 6’1 and weighs 190 lbs, and he plays a grittier bottom 6 game to excel in the league as well. As pointed out in the linked article, Tanner may have been overlooked by scouts.

“Tanner is a strong and skillful forward who brings plenty of two-way aptitudes to the Flyers depth. His competence in the areas of puck protection and edge work are two of the glaring strengths that could allow the 23-year-old to make an immediate impact in the pro circuit.”  

The third candidate for 1 of the 2 center spots in Connor Bunnaman.

To the shock of pretty much everyone, Connor made the Flyers out of camp last season and played well enough to receive a couple more call ups through out the regular season and even saw some action in the playoffs. At 6’1 207 lbs, Connor is physically ready to play on a 4th line in the NHL and showed enough ability to at least be in consideration for a roster spot once next season starts.

Of the 3 players mentioned though I do believe Bunnaman is ranked 3rd in terms of skill but I’ve found it extremely difficult to complain about his work ethic and as we’ve seen, this means a lot when you’re playing under Alain Vigneault.

Having said that, Bunnaman is no stranger to putting the puck in the net as he went on to score 37 times with Kitchener in the OHL back in 2017-18 and also scored 19 goals in his first season with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in 2018-19.

Competition for roster spots in a good thing I believe as it forces everyone to play to their best abilities just to make the team and then stay on the roster, so to me, this is a good problem to have.

Follow me on Twitter @JimIkeHW

Photo Credit: Yong Kim/Staff Photographer for the Philadelphia Inquirer